1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a disk apparatus such as a CD player or CD ROM drive. More particularly, it relates to a device for mounting a recording and/or playback disk on a disk tray, and loading it in a disk apparatus. Still further, it relates to a damper for a frame to which a disk table and optical pickup are attached.
2. Description of Related Art
In disk apparatuses such as CD players or CD ROM drives, a horizontal opening is formed in the body of the apparatus that is shaped like a flat box, the apparatus being provided with a disk tray that can be freely inserted in the opening or removed from it, A front panel to close the opening is formed in a one-piece construction with the disk tray. An effectively circular recess 3 is formed in an upper surface 2b of a disk tray 2, as shown in FIG. 36A. A disk 4 for recording and/or playback, for example an optical or opto-magnetic disk such as a CD or CD-ROM, is inserted in the recess 3, mounted on a base 3a, and the disk 4 is then loaded horizontally in the disk apparatus by means of the tray 2.
A notch 5 is formed running from the center of the recess 3 of the tray 2 in the loading direction. A disk table, optical pickup and chucking pulley are installed in upper and lower positions inside the body of the disk apparatus.
When the disk tray is ejected outside the disk device, the disk table and optical pickup in the apparatus are retracted underneath the tray 2 around a pivot support by a base unit. The chucking pulley is supported by a pulley holder.
When the tray 2 has been loaded in the disk apparatus, the base unit is rotated about the pivot support. The disk table and optical pickup are inserted in the notch 5 in the tray 2 from underneath, a conical centering piece in the disk table engages with a center hole 4a in the disk 4 from underneath the disk, and the disk 4 is thereby lifted above the base 3a of the recess 3 of the tray 2. Simultaneously, chucking of the disk 4 is performed between the chucking pulley and disk table, and the optical pickup is brought close to the underside of the disk 4.
The disk 4 is then rotated together with the disk table by a spindle motor, and an object lens of the optical pickup tracks the disk 4 in a radial direction so as to perform recording and/or playback of the disk 4.
In this type of disk apparatus, the base unit was elastically supported in the apparatus by a damping device. However, this conventional disk apparatus was designed exclusively for horizontal operation, the disk 4 being mounted and loaded horizontally on the base 3a of the recess 3 of the disk tray 2. The apparatus was not suited to vertical operation.
As shown in FIG. 36B, if the disk tray 2 and body of the apparatus are in a vertical position, the recess 3 is then vertical, so the disk 4 slips under its own weight off a taper surface 3b of the outer circumference of the recess 3 in the direction e when it is attempted to mount the disk 4 in the recess 3.
However, in the CD-ROM drive industry, there is an increasing desire to use such disk apparatuses vertically in an effort to make use of narrow spaces due to the increasing compactness of computers.